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Press Release

Support Rep. Jeff Flake's Privileged Resolution on Earmark Reform

Members of the 111th CongressU.S. House of RepresentativesWashington, D.C. 20515

Dear Representative,

Writing on behalf of over 500,000 FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge your support of Representative Jeff Flake’s (R-6th AZ) privileged resolution instructing the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct or a subcommittee to investigate the relationship between the source and timing of past campaign contributions to Members of the House and the earmark requests made by Members of the House in regards to the lobbying firm PMA Group, currently under investigation by the FBI.

President Barack Obama promised at the beginning of his term to usher in a new era of transparency in governance. Nowhere is this accountability more urgently needed than in the earmark process.

It is long acknowledged that the earmark process is in desperate need of reform. With little oversight, projects and their funds are judged less on their own merits than on favoritism and patronage. Also, there have been many recent examples of earmarks going to those individuals or organizations that also donated funds to congressional campaigns. These instances break down the public trust and give credence to “pay to play” perceptions.

At a time when our nation is facing record deficits, skyrocketing spending, and economic turmoil at every level, it is essential that the use of taxpayer funds is examined under the microscope of transparency. Each dollar the government spends is a dollar a taxpayer earned. And it was bequeathed to the government with an expectation that it would be used well – not on favors to gain more personal power. Such waste and lack of oversight shows a profound lack of regard toward the taxpayers of this country.

Once again, I urge you to support Rep. Flake’s privileged resolution and bring about this much needed reform to the earmark process.

On behalf of our activist community, I urge you to contact your representative and ask him or her to sign the letter led by Reps. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) and Ted Budd (R-N.C.) to Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and House Republican Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) urging that any vote to bring back the pernicious practice of earmarks be public. FreedomWorks will key vote the signers of the letter, treating them as voting YES for the purposes of our 2018 Congressional Scorecard.

On behalf of our activist community, I urge you to contact your senators and ask them to support the Earmark Elimination Act, S. 2330, introduced by Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.). The bill is co-sponsored by a bipartisan group that includes Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.). The Earmark Elimination Act would make permanent the temporary moratorium on congressional earmarks put into effect in 2010 by creating a point of order against any provision within a bill that matches the definition of an earmark, and when raised would be stricken absent a two-thirds majority to override.

Not long after the 2016 presidential election, House Republicans entertained a rule change proposed by Reps. John Culberson (R-Texas), Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), and Tom Rooney (R-Fla.) to bring back earmarks. The rule change, which likely would have passed if allowed to proceed, was quashed by Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who felt that reviving the practice sent the wrong message after a “drain the swamp” election.

On behalf of FreedomWorks’ activist community, I urge you to contact your Republican senator(s) and urge him or her to support the amendment introduced by Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) to extend the existing ban on earmarks in the Senate. The amendment will be proposed in the Senate Republican Conference meeting Tuesday.

Shortly before adjourning for Thanksgiving, House Republicans met in private to vote on rules proposals for the 115th Congress, which begins on January 3. Among the proposals considered by the conference was one that would bring back earmarks.

As one of our over 5.7 million FreedomWorks activists nationwide, I urge you to contact your representative and ask them to vote YES on Rep. Sanford’s (R-SC) amendment to H.R. 5293, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2017. The amendment would keep in place the U.S. military’s current practice of providing vouchers to recruits allowing them to pick the shoe of their choice. Recently, legislation passed the House and Senate that would change this practice and cost the taxpayers over $300 million. Rep. Sanford’s amendment to H.R. 5293 is expected to be considered on the House floor tomorrow, June 16.